Good news in from the ‘loft group’ at the FMB, They have started to discuss the new changes that may come into effect this year. It will happen either at the end of April 2008 or at the end of November 2008. I know theres a bit of difference in the times but for all those people holding on for the new changes it should be well worth the wait.

At the moment every house has a certain allowance that it can be extended, for a mid terrace the allowance is 50 meters cubed and out of that 50 only 40 meters cubed can be used in the loft. For a Detached and Semi Detached house the allowance is 70 meters cubed and out of that 70 only 50 meters cubed can be used for the loft.

So if a mid terraced house (50m3) had a ground floor extension that had already used 40 meters cubed, there is only 10 meters cubed remaining which wouldn’t be enough to do a dormer under Permitted Development (PD). This means you would have to do the loft conversion under a Planning Application. This may cause problems like restrictions and guidelines that you have to follow in certain boroughs. A can of worms some might say…

Not any more!!!

The biggest change that is pending with the government is the allowance (PD) to be separated from loft conversions and other extensions that may exsist.

This means that if your house already has a side or rear extension you can still apply for a loft under PD. (40m3 for a mid terrace and 59m3 for a Detached or Semi)

This is also going to help houses that need hip to gables.

At the moment 90% of the councils around the country will never allow Hip to gables under Planning Permission. The only type of conversion you can do to a hip to gable is a side dormer. Side dormers cost the same as a hip to gable but only give you a third of the space. A lot of people have put off converting there lofts because of this and if they change the law i think the councils around the country will soon be inundated with the thousands of home owners ready to convert there lofts.

The FMB really need to push the government to decide on a fixed date for these changes. When the decisions made the local councils will need to start passing the extra applications before the chosen date otherwise they will just be in the same situation there in now… To many people wanting to convert there homes, to many applications for the council to cope with and a 56 day waiting list applications to be granted…

There is a small chance that this new law may not come out at all but the chances are very slim.

Unfortunately the new law will not apply to purpose built flats or converted flats, Conservation areas or second grade listed buildings. Sorry.

Vat on Building work including lofts is to expensive and needs to be cut. By doing this millions of home owners will be able to stay where they are and extend their property. The FMB have put a petition together to try and crack down on cowboy builders on all trades to stop the gangsters doing cash deals with customers and then leaving them half way through a job without finishing it at the agreed the price, walking off the job and having no come back on themselves in court as the customer has avoided the VAT….

The FMB our are focused on lowering the 17.5% vat bracket down to just 5% which sounds like a good saving but with the cost of raw materials going up by upto 40% because of the works being done over the far east, building costs in this country are just spiraling out of control.

Get behind the Petition and go to cutthevat.co.uk for more details

For over 30 years The Guild of Master Craftsmen has represented many different trades and professions, promoting and supporting excellence. To the trade and public alike, the Guild’s emblem and Coat of Arms represent skill, integrity, quality and service – in all professionalism.

Guild members come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some are quite unusual, such as craftsmen in wrought iron, stained glass or thatch, others are traditional builders, plumbers or electricians. A growing number are involved in newer industries such as information technology and in the retail and service sector. The one thing they have in common is their commitment to work with skill and integrity.

The Guild encourages members to strive for excellence and monitors standards to ensure that its principles are being maintained.

to check out more visit http://www.guildmc.com/

The Guild of Master Craftsman represent lots of different professions and it’s not just Loft builders who are members. There main aim is to support and promote the excellence of their tradsmen, their tradesmen include Bricklayers to electricans, Plumbers to plasterers, Thatch roofers through to stone macers. Supporting everyone makes the tradsmen strive for excellence but with monitored stardards to keep the Guilds code of pratice in order.

The guild of master Craftsman represents skill, quality service in all their members professions.

to check out more visit  www.guildmc.com.

You will find that most building companies are members of the Federation of Master Builders.

The FMB is the building industry’s largest trade organisation, representing over 13,000 small and medium size companies in the UK.

The federation promotes standards of excellence, and helps its members to continually improve levels of business performance and customer service. For Builders to join the FMB they need to pay an annual fee and as long as they dont get too many complaints in a year, then there will not risk of losing their membership. I say too many complaints because they will let one or two be forgotten due to an average builder/customer disagreement which can’t really be prevented. This is not perfect for the customer but if that company have ten or more complaints in one year the FMB will investigate and it could jeopardise the builders membership for good.

You can check all the expelled Members out @ www.fmb.org.uk.

“I know of one or two companies who have lost their FMB due to lying to clients saying that they were inculding an FMB Masterbond Warrenty in with their contract price, Filing out the all the paperwork in front of the customer and then throwing it all away without sending it to the Federation.”

An FMB 10 year Masterbond Warrenty is where your builders work is covered by the federation so if there are any structural problems within that period the FMB will cover any costs for materials and labour by dealing with another FMB Member.

All FMB members must have a proven track record and good business standing, aswell as being carefully vetted before they are allowed to join. They are also required to adhere to a strict code of practice which is like a set of guidelines that they have to agree to. The FMB Masterbond Warrenty normally costs around 1.5% of the overall contract between you and your builder. For more information about the FMB Please go to www.fmb.org.uk.